It's only time
by smaragdbird
Summary: Matt tends to talk when he's drunk. He's also incredibly jealous of Danny Quinn. Matt/Becker, Abby/Connor, Jess/Emily, spoilers for season 5!


So the famous Danny Quinn walked back into the present with a bad sunburn, in dire need of a shave and a haircut, spouting Bond one-liners and suddenly Matt was sidelined for everything but actual work.

Becker was suddenly all occupied with Quinn testing the EMDs and hunting each other through ventilation shafts and ARC hallways.

Matt wasn't jealous if that was what you were thinking.

Beers after work? Quinn. Banter while they were chasing creatures? Quinn. Making jokes about Becker's obsession with guns? Quinn. Fighting back to back through a room full of dinosaurs? Quinn. Friendly pat on the shoulder? Quinn.

Suddenly it was like Becker and Quinn were attached at the hip and Matt would've understood that, after all they hadn't seen each other for more than a year if Becker still found some time for him but apparently Matt didn't have any place in Becker's world anymore. Connor, Abby, Lester even Jess did but it was quite obvious that Becker had never seen him as anything than a replacement for Danny Quinn.

Matt had skipped jealousy altogether and went with hurt right away. Not that he admitted that even to himself because he hadn't formed any attachments to the people he worked with and denial was just a river in Egypt.

Matt was only human after all.

It wasn't like he could just say something. "Are you ignoring me so that you can spend more time with your boyfriend?"

Yeah, that wasn't going to work well.

He also wasn't sure that he had any grounds for a complaint either because he wasn't sure that he and Becker even qualified as the kind of friends that could make demands of each other's time. Not when they saw each other at work on a daily basis.

Looking at the look on Connor's face opposite him he shouldn't have drunk that much tonight.

And he certainly shouldn't have ranted about Danny and Becker.

Connor looked somewhere between speechless and absolutely horrified.

Abby on the other hand looked quite amused as did Jess. And damn her, it wasn't as if he was the only one with a crush on Becker. Emily blinked in confusion. Right, no one had probably told her that men could have feelings for other men, or were allowed to that in public. Fortunately Lester, Danny and Becker were playing a friendly game of darts on the other side of the room so there was a chance for him to recover his dignity. Maybe. Somehow.

"Did you consider telling him?" Abby asked in a voice that other people used to explain that one and one equalled two.

"When should I? He's with Danny all the time." Matt pointed in the approximated direction of Danny and Becker.

"You've been working with each other for two years now and you want me to believe that you never found the time?" Abby sounded sceptical which was unfair because her romance with Connor hadn't exactly been fourth date marriage either.

"Hey," Connor protested and yes, Matt should definitely pay more attention whether he said things out loud or not.

"So that kind of behaviour is acceptable in this time?" Emily asked.

"Oh yes, in some places you can even get married." Jess grinned happily and Emily beamed. "That's good news." They smiled at each other and Matt suddenly felt uncomfortable as if he was watching something very intimate.

And didn't Jess used to have a crush on Becker? How did he miss this?

"You were a bit distracted by them, I imagine." Jess gestured in Becker's and Danny's direction while flushing slightly which meant he had said things out loud again.

Damn those ten Tequila shots.

The four Guinness weren't blameless either.

And he really should regain control over his mouth because Danny, Becker and Lester had finished their little game and were coming back to their table.

"It's customary that the winner gives out the next round." Becker grinned at Lester. He had his arms draped over him, too which while Lester wasn't Danny, didn't help with Matt's jealousy at all.

"Making up traditions to get your boss pay your tab is not the way to get promotions, Becker." Lester told him but nodded at Danny anyway.

"So I guess that means you won?" Abby asked.

"He stomped us into the ground." Danny had reappeared with a borrowed tray to carry all of their drinks at once.

"Was it painful?" Abby grinned.

"Like you can't imagine." Becker faked a wince.

"Poor baby," Emily teased him, "Maybe you can ask someone to kiss it better."

"Or we could pick someone if you're too shy to ask," Jess joined in. Becker, his arm still around Lester's shoulders, said, "I didn't even get a kiss from him when I saved him, his job, the team and the whole ARC."

"I've known men for whom doing a good deed was wage enough." Lester said dryly.

"Sarah gave you a kiss." Connor grinned but his face fell immediately, "I mean..."

"It's okay," Becker's smile flickered only for a moment. "At least someone appreciated me."

Danny threw his arms around Becker in a melodramatic gesture.

"Becker, you're the heart and the soul of this team, fighting for us when there was no hope, risking your life in the same of secrecy, dinosaurs, scientific breakthroughs the world will never know about and a lousy paycheque." With those words, Danny kissed Becker.

"I think you've proven your point." Lester commented after a couple seconds and added, when Danny finally pulled back, "If you do that again Matt will probably murder you in your sleep."

Matt stared at him only to look up and find Becker's eyes on him but fortunately he was saved by Abby who cleared her throat.

"We would like to tell you something," She said, taking Connor's hand in hers. Becker's eyes rested on Matt for couple seconds longer then he looked away to Connor and Abby.

"We're getting married." She said and Connor grinned so brightly that it outshone the sun.

"Ohh, I'm so happy for you! That's wonderful." Jess squeed, hugging both of them tightly.

"Thank you," Matt whispered to Abby when he hugged her.

"Don't mention it," she whispered back.

"Well done, mate," Danny winked at Connor.

Emily's "my best wishes for both of you," sounded oddly formal but her eyes shone with so much hope and remembering that her marriage had been disastrous, it was heart-warming to see how much she had become a part of their team.

"Take good care of him," Lester told Abby with the underlying implication that she would be sabre-tooth dinner if she hurt Connor which made Matt smile.

Becker tried to secretly wipe a tear from his eye but Danny caught him and offered him a napkin with the biggest shit-eating grin imaginable but he wrapped his arm around Becker's shoulder, pulling him close and Matt's smile dropped immediately only to be distracted by Connor who asked,

"Lester...we wondered if...since you did it for Jenny...if you would be the official?" He squirmed. "You know we could make it a tradition...that would be nice, don't you think so?"

The look on Lester's face was, even for Lester, astonishingly sarcastic.

"You need more than two incidents to make something into a tradition, Connor." Jess opened her mouth but before she could say anything, Lester already addressed her, "No, you two can't get married because Lady Emily is a) officially dead and b) technically still married. And you," he turned to Matt, "give me enough headaches with that whole time travel and future changing nonsense so don't even think about asking Becker."

"Is that a yes?" Connor asked, a slightly confused look on his face. Matt tried to concentrate on that instead of looking at Becker who he felt was looking at him.

Abby got up and hugged him which made Lester blush just a tiny bit.

/

"Feeling better, solider boy?" Danny asked Becker later when they were all standing in front of the now closed pub. Abby and Connor had already said their goodbyes as had Jess and Emily and Lester had reminded all of them that office hours started at nine, not a minute later with no exceptions granted short of coming down with a severe case of death or dinosaurs in the bedroom.

"Quinn," Becker growled but Danny waved his hand around. "Yeah, yeah I know."

But Matt didn't know and he really, really hated all those little inside jokes between Becker and Danny. Fortunately the alcohol was mostly out of his system or he would have said those things out loud...again.

"Make sure he gets home okay," Danny nodded towards Matt before slapping Becker on the back. "See you guys tomorrow morning."

Becker took Matt's arm, steadying him while walking him to his car. Apparently he was still a lot more drunk than he had thought because the sidewalk didn't want to make sense.

"Thanks," Matt said when Becker walked him up to his front door, having driven him home mostly in silence. But instead of letting him go, Becker spun him around by his arm again to face him.

"You're an idiot, Matt." Becker said exasperatedly and just a little bit angry.

"What?"

You could've just asked me out."

"There was Danny," Matt said to something over Becker's left shoulder.

"Like I said, you're an idiot."

Becker kissed him.

"There. I see you tomorrow."

"But-"Matt started but Becker kissed him again.

"Go to bed, Matt. I'm not sleeping with people before the third date. Especially not when they're drunk out of their mind." Becker grinned.

"Three dates?" Matt asked and just to be sure he held up three fingers.

"Three," Becker confirmed already walking back to his car. "Good night."

"Good night," Matt called. Three dates, he could do.


End file.
